38,000-page chargesheet filed in codeine syrup smuggling case in Varanasi court

Varanasi: In a major crackdown on the illegal sale and smuggling of codeine-laced New Phensedyl cough syrup, Kotwali police filed a 38,000-page chargesheet before the fast track court of an additional district judge on Thursday.A total of 18 persons have been named in the chargesheet, including syndicate kingpin Shubham Jaiswal, a resident of Kayastha Tola under Adampur police station area. The other accused include Shubham’s father Bhola Prasad, and accomplices Prateek Mishra, Vishal Kumar Sonkar, Prateek Kumar, Dharmendra Kumar Agarwal, Aditya Jaisalal, Rahul Yadav, Himanshu Kasera, Akash Pathak, Vikas Singh, Ankit Kumar Srivastava, Swapnil Kesari, Dinesh Yadav, Ashish Yadav, Mahesh Khetan, Badal Arya, and Vishal Kumar Jaiswal.According to police, the chargesheet has been prepared based on an extensive investigation and evidence. The accused face serious charges related to illegal trade in codeine-laced cough syrup.The accused have been charged under Section 26D of the NDPS Act, along with added charges under Sections 61(2) (offence of criminal conspiracy), 318(4) (cheating), 336(3) (forgery for cheating), 338 ( forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 340(2) (dishonest use of a document or electronic record known to be forged as genuine) of BNS and Sections 8/21/29/27A of the NDPS Act.Police teams are continuously conducting raids for the arrest of Shubham. After Sonbhadra Police busted the racket smuggling codeine cough syrup to countries like Bangladesh for narcotic uses in Oct 2025, the first case against Shubham and 27 others was lodged in Varanasi on Nov 15, 2025. Shubham’s father Bhola Prasad and several other accused in this case have already been arrested, while properties worth several crores of many accused have also been forfeited.